The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe discusses the Toledo Walleye’s season-opening 5-game road trip this morning:
The Toledo Walleye are once again opening a season with a schedule full of road games but coach Dan Watson believes playing in hostile environments early on can pay dividends through team bonding.
The Walleye travel to Coralville, Iowa this week to take on one of the ECHL’s two new expansion teams, the Iowa Heartlanders. Toledo plays its new Central Division opponent on Friday and Saturday nights.
The Walleye opened the season with a 5-2 loss at Kalamazoo last Saturday. It was the sixth consecutive season that the Walleye have opened on the road. This is the third season in a row that the team will open with five straight road contests.
“It’s been the norm,” Watson said. “I like to actually go on the road and get a trip out of the way early on.”
Following the trip to Iowa, Toledo will play two more road games next week. The Walleye play at Indy next Wednesday before playing at Kalamazoo next Friday.
The home opener is set for Saturday, Nov. 6 against Kalamazoo. The latest a Toledo team has started its home schedule was Nov. 7, 2015, against Adirondack. Toledo played the first eight games on the road that season.
“I think getting away from home is helpful early in the season,” Watson said. “The guys are confined together. They’re in the hotel together. They go to the movies together. They go to dinner together.”
